The base unit of a power converter for converting DC power into three-phase AC power is an arm including series-connected upper and lower switching devices, and the upper and lower switching devices are alternately turned ON and OFF.
In known power converters, to prevent short-circuiting of the upper and lower switching devices by the devices being simultaneously turned ON, a short-circuit prevention time (also referred to as a “dead time”) for which the upper and lower switching devices are simultaneously turned OFF when they are switched from the ON state to the OFF state and vice versa is provided.
However, because of the provision of this dead time, an error may occur between a voltage command value output from a control unit and an actual output voltage (hereinafter such an error is referred to as an “error voltage”), which may cause distortion in the output voltage. Accordingly, a compensation voltage, which is a constant value, is added to a voltage command value so that an error voltage can be compensated for. Such a technique is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-95262.